text:
Q: Strahler stream order using cypher in neo4j I'm trying to implement stream ordering on a small water network using cypher in neo4j. I've recreated the network in the below image and I want to add the stream order number on the link.

I first of all tried using where statements but this doesn't seem to like the <> and nothing is set on the network after the order 2 links are worked out.
match (n:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[:LINK]-(p:StrahlerTest)
where not (n)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
where not (p)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
match (o)-[r:LINK]->()
set r.strahler_number = 2
with n
match (:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK{strahler_number:2}]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[r:LINK]-(p:StrahlerTest)
with o, r
match (o)-[r2:LINK]->(q)
where r.strahler_number <> 2 set r2.strahler_number = 2
with o, r
match (o)-[r2:LINK]->(q)
where r.strahler_number = 2 set r2.strahler_number = 3
with q
match (:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK{strahler_number:3}]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[r:LINK]-(p:StrahlerTest)
with o, r
match (o)-[r2:LINK]->(q)
where r.strahler_number <> 3 set r2.strahler_number = 3
with o, r
match (o)-[r2:LINK]->(q)
where r.strahler_number = 3 set r2.strahler_number = 4
with q
match (:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK{strahler_number:4}]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[r:LINK]-(p:StrahlerTest)
with o, r
match (o)-[r2:LINK]->(q)
where r.strahler_number <> 4 set r2.strahler_number = 4

Next I tried Foreach, but a match statement can not be used with a foreach statement.
match (n:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[:LINK]-(p:StrahlerTest)
where not (n)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
where not (p)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
match (o)-[r:LINK]->()
set r.strahler_number = 2
with [2,3,4] as num
foreach (n in num | match (:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK{strahler_number:n}]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[r:LINK]-(:StrahlerTest))
with o, r, n
match (o)-[r2:LINK]->()
set r2.strahler_number =
    case r2.strahler_number
    when r.strahler_number <> n
    then n
    else n+1 end

Finally I tried unwind. It worked up to setting the first set of order three links (so directly following two order 2 links) but did not provide the correct value for the order 3 link which follows another order 3 link (when the order 1 link joins the network).
match (n:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[:LINK]-(p:StrahlerTest)
where not (n)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
where not (p)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
match (o)-[r:LINK]->()
set r.strahler_number = 2
with [2,3,4] as num
unwind num as n
match (:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK{strahler_number:n}]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[r:LINK]-(:StrahlerTest)
with o, r, n
match (o)-[r2:LINK]->()
set r2.strahler_number =
    case r2.strahler_number
    when r.strahler_number <> n
    then n
    else n+1 end

Hopefully that is clear. Any ideas / advice on how to get this to work would be much appreciated.

A: Turns out I was just getting the syntax slightly wrong. This works
match (n:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[:LINK]-(p:StrahlerTest)
where not (n)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
where not (p)<-[:LINK]-()
with n,o,p
match (o)-[r:LINK]->()
set r.strahler_number = 2
with [2,3,4] as num
unwind num as n
    match (:StrahlerTest)-[:LINK{strahler_number:n}]->(o:StrahlerTest)<-[r:LINK]-(:StrahlerTest)
        with o, r, n
        match (o)-[r2:LINK]->()
        set r2.strahler_number =
            case
            when r.strahler_number <> n
            then n
            else n+1 end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace Doctrine\Tests\Models\Forum;

use Doctrine\ORM\Annotation as ORM;

/**
 * @ORM\Entity
 * @ORM\Table(name="forum_categories")
 */
class ForumCategory
{
    /**
     * @ORM\Column(type="integer")
     * @ORM\Id
     */
    private $id;
    /**
     * @ORM\Column(type="integer")
     */
    public $position;
    /**
     * @ORM\Column(type="string", length=255)
     */
    public $name;
    /**
     * @ORM\OneToMany(targetEntity=ForumBoard::class, mappedBy="category")
     */
    public $boards;

    public function getId()
    {
        return $this->id;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


You may think honey bees are simply annoying creatures which can ruin a picnic in the countryside, but with its workers bees, drones and queen, a bee hive is like a mind, a collective intelligence as powerful as the biggest computer – except that your PC doesn't make honey. Bees truly are amazing.
One third of the UK's food is pollinated by bees.
It may look like chaos, but inside a bee hive is one of the most sophisticated living things in the history of evolution – the oldest known bee fossil is 100 million years old . One bee on its own doesn't amount to much, but taken together a very different picture can be seen.
The honey bee's wings stroke incredibly fast, about 200 beats per second, thus making their famous, distinctive buzz. A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour.
Although our Highland Titles bees will be 'living' in lovely new style polystyrene hives like the one above – better to keep the bees warm in Winter, they have a secret way of keeping themselves warm! Seen normally, all bees may look the same, but go beyond the ordinarily visible into the infra-red and some bees are warmer than others. Some glow bright orange like hot coals, radiating heat to their surroundings. Others are dark and cool. It's the precise control of heat that allows a bee colony to be such a unique and successful form of organisation. But what is all this heat for? Heat is concentrated in one central area of the hive, the brood nest, where young bee pupae are growing. A bee that may appear relatively still, when looked at in infra-red is glowing bright orange, revealing its role as a specialist heater bee. The bee warms itself up by vibrating its flight muscles – vibrations that allow it to warm up to 44 degrees centigrade, previously thought to be high enough to kill it. Others that seem to be grabbing a quiet snooze are actually tight little balls of fire that are acting in a motherly role to keep the brood warm. Without warmth the babies will not grow and develop.
The more we learn the more amazing these little guys become. It is now clear why bees spend so long foraging for nectar that will be turned into honey, as over two thirds of the hive's honey goes on the central heating of the colony. At Highland Titles we don't take honey from the hives. Doing so usually means artificial feeding in the winter when all they really need is their own pure supplies! There is a rarely seen moment caught on camera in a BBC documentary when an exhausted heater bee is topped up by a refuelling bee just returned from foraging.
Even more amazing – by precisely controlling the temperature, these heater bees control the destiny of the young. Incubated at 34 degress, the newly born bees are likely to become humble housekeepers, but kept just one and a half degrees warmer, they may instead turn into intelligent and high-ranking foragers, living up to 10 times longer.
When a bee is born its first job is to clean out the cell in which she was born. Jobs are then allocated on the basis of age.
22+ days – Flying from hive begins, Pollinates plants, Collects pollen, nectar and water.
One ounce of honey would power a bee for a flight completely around the earth!
Bees need to communicate with each other to pass on the location of food sources. To do this bees have evolved a unique dance language that can be understood by us. A worker bee returning from a rich source of food will 'dance' on the vertical comb surface by running in a circle, on each revolution the bee will bisect the circle at an angle.The angle with respect to 12 O'clock represents the angle to fly with respect to the sun.
If the bee ran from 6 to 12 O'clock i.e. straight up, this would say fly directly towards the sun '.
And 7 to 1 O'clock would mean fly just to the right of the sun, 12 to 6 O'clock 'Fly directly away from the sun'. In other words the bees translate the angle to the sun as an angle to the vertical.
To represent distance the bee 'wiggles' its abdomen whist crossing the circle, the more wiggles the greater the distance. So a bee will 'say' to its friends 'Fly over there for about a 1 mile and you will find something that tastes like this'. Pretty Smart!
Bees are in danger of disappearing from our environment. Farming practices continue to disturb the natural habitats and forage of solitary and bumblebees at a rate which gives them little chance for re-establishment.
The importance of honey bees to the future of mankind cannot be overstated and the Highland Titles Nature Reserve in Duror, in conjunction with Plan Bee Ltd., now has 10 hives busily buzzing away. We have also undertaken an education program with local schools, both primary & secondary, to teach the youngsters what science already knows. The children are currently designing and painting their hives which will be swapped over to the Reserve in Spring ready for the school to adopt, with follow-up visits planned.
These pictures were taken during our recent visits to Kinlochleven High and Primary Schools and Ballachulish Primary School. There were lots of questions and the kids seemed genuinely interested, which is great as honey bees are so important to their future!


Hello and welcome to yet another piCture pOlish Monday!
Today's post showcases a beautiful flakie polish from PP!
Festival is a lovely multi-colored flakie in a clear base. Shown is two coats, the flakies are pretty dense!
I find that flakies look best over dark creme polishes, and I don't have any PP polishes of that sort, so I chose to layer it over a pretty dark green.
Love this polish, great formula, you can get away with one thick coat or two thin ones. Dries super fast, too.
and this is why i love flakies!
Oh awesome! I love flakies but rarely see all the colours of the rainbow in one bottle like that. It's like a more subtle, grown-up, yet still bright and fun version of the rainbow glitters. LOVE.
This is really pretty! I would have never imagined this would be so pretty from the bottle but it creates a wonderful effect over dark polish.
Hunter is probably one of my all time fave polishes ever.
Best combination ever. I freaking love that green!


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text:
"Hate Speech" is Free Speech
Over the course of the latest generation, a great many political, sociological and linguistic metamorphoses have coalesced to rally young and impressionable minds around bold ideas that elude examination and understanding by the mainstream and those who loyally wave their banners and line the streets.
Before they even remotely comprehend what they have read, witnessed or encountered, or more appropriately what they have been told to think, they are suddenly involved in an uncompromising movement predicated upon words and statements as bold as their ideas.
Unfortunately, while the words may appear bold and compelling, the ideas behind them are just about as flimsy as the paper that bears their message.
Ironically, in the heat of passion — or fit of boredom — which impels the protest, the participants seem to forget that it is that very freedom of speech which enables the protests against it in the first place.
However, for the average opponent to free speech, the only permissible kind takes the form of that which is agreeable, inoffensive or trivial.
Beyond this standard, the only kind of tolerable political speech, which conveniently qualifies as something other than "hate speech" in their rulebook, is that which offends the unfashionable opinions, or challenges the unpopular laws, presumably supported only by bigots or out-of-touch members of the so-called "privileged" class.
Just as with any set of ideas or string of words that makes us laugh, inspires thought, challenges conventional wisdom or elucidates an error of judgment, each iteration of speech inherently risks upsetting someone or disrupting the preceding system.
In this sense, while the protests against so-called "hate speech" intend to broadly extinguish unpopular expressions, it can serve only to limit the kind of speech that is most meaningful; whether this outcome is secured deliberately or incidentally is immaterial.
Fortunately for those who enjoy free speech and appreciate it as a precondition to a free society, the United States Constitution plainly protects the institution against its opponents, regardless of their justifications, their conviction or the sincerity of their hurt feelings.
While people will continue into perpetuity to formulate new reasons to complain about life, other people or what they say, the value of free speech will endure the same, regardless of how others wish to define, restrict or defame it.
And while this protest certainly isn't new to the human experience, protestors are always inventing new ways to bring that freedom back into question.
In the twenty-first century, their trick has been the classification of some expressions as "hate speech," a characterization that appears relatable at first but crumbles under the slightest of disciplined scrutiny.
Clearly, just because someone is offended by another's comment, that does not qualify the statement as hateful: a fragile ego, a misapprehension or any number of factors could thereby theoretically produce the illusion of "hate speech."
This is a dangerous precedent, as wherever the proverbial line is decidedly drawn on the matter, it can serve only as a launchpad for further curtailments of speech and other liberties in the future, where the laws and their administrators will continue to usurp authority, operating largely free from criticism for the increasing limits placed thereupon.
Despite the soundest of intentions, laws endure beyond the final breaths of those who breathed life into the provisions; with their passing, so too degrades the harnesses on those powers, where "hate speech" and the like develop into the kind of threats against liberty that even the original protestors and administrators would have condemned.
By the time that original generation has perished, they have been replaced by another set of eager, impressionable minds who are prepared to be offended by other forms of expression that have yet to be specifically outlawed.
While those original safeguards against "hate speech" may have operated under vastly different intentions, those intentions fail to carry over into the future, where subsequent generations of politicians are left to wield this weapon against those who threaten their authority.
Whereas the protestors falsely believe that the people — those who resemble them and their disposition — will reserve the power to determine which speech is allowable, they neglect to acknowledge that it is government and its heavy-handed administrators who capitalize on those powers once they become law.
This is precisely why America's forefathers specified this freedom without condition, qualification or reservation.
While we all have our own uniquely personal concepts of the term "hate speech," and we all know of people and comments that we wish we could silence, the freedom to speech is far more important than the convenience of silencing those with whom we disagree.
First, "hate speech" didn't exist in the English lexicon until roughly a few minutes ago, in the grand scheme of history, when the politically-minded set out to engineer a divisive term to promote ulterior political motives.
Indeed, the United States government doesn't even recognize "hate speech," and it has no laws delineating or outlawing it.
Just as with most political movements, the laymen and foot soldiers are scarcely acquainted with the primary objectives of the tactical political maneuvers, compelled only by whatever faces them in the immediacy.
In the case of speech, the average opponent to that freedom avails himself of the tools and expedients secured by his sponsors who stand to gain the most through the process and upon its culmination as law.
Second, in the literal sense, "free speech" covers all speech, whether agreeable or disagreeable, logical or illogical.
The First Amendment reads, "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech."
The Amendment does not qualify this freedom with any limits or conditions; it is unequivocal.
Indeed, Founders Thomas Jefferson and James Madison — the latter of whom drafted the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights in response to political pressure from the civil rights-focused Anti-Federalists — even reinforced their intentions through their Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which rebuked the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts that served to limit false or critical statements about the federal government.
Through their combined efforts, Jefferson and Madison sought to demonstrate the unconstitutionality of the Alien and Sedition Acts in order to preserve the First Amendment in all of its glory.
With history as their guide, the two Founders stressed states' rights and strict constitutionalism to ward off the forces that stood to wear down the very fibers which formed and preserved the fabric of freedom in the United States.
As it turns out, the battle against speech is often a proxy for one's discomfort with truth, unpredictability or the struggle for power.
Nowhere is this more relevant than in the realm of politics, where participants and politicians alike commiserate with one another over their disapproval of certain kinds of opinion, or even inconvenient facts.
They would like nothing more than to simply eliminate these thoughts from their world.
Short of this, however, they would settle for the alternative scenario in which they limit through law the expression of those undesirable thoughts, whereby they concomitantly discourage the public from critical thought and honest discussion altogether.
With this arrangement, they believe they will finally silence their opposition to prove that they are right.
Despite their sincerest efforts, they will predictably squash truth in the process of exterminating everything that ails them.
In affording them any such privilege, they will face no incentive to even acknowledge truth, leaving them blind to it as they snuff out every last threat to their peace of mind.
During colonial times, the English criminal common law of seditious libel made punishable by law all forms of criticism directed at government, notwithstanding any legal defense predicated upon objective truth.
In 1704, Lord Chief Justice John Holt explained his rationalization for the prohibition of speech: "If people should not be called to account for possessing the people with an ill opinion of the government, no government can subsist, for it is very necessary for all governments that the people should have a good opinion of it."
In essence, speech that is critical of government poses a threat to the power structure that is presently enjoyed by those in or approving of said government.
Of course, this is where we find a fundamental distinction between England and the United States: whereas the Magna Carta sought a "better ordering of [a] kingdom" around the English Church, the United States Constitution separated between church and state, pursuing a "more perfect union" to "secure the blessings of liberty to [the people of the United States] and [their] posterity."
The Magna Carta also outlined the rights granted by government to the free men of England, whereas the Constitution expressly enumerated the powers of government to deliberately reserve every other power "to the States respectively, or to the people."
In this capacity, both the United States and the central government made the freedom of speech a central aspect of their respective constitutions.
For example, the Constitution of the State of Virginia reads, "Any citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his sentiments on all subjects."
Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution of the State of Missouri reads, "... no law shall be passed impairing the freedom of speech, no matter by what means communicated." The Missouri Constitution continues, "every person shall be free to say, write, or publish, or otherwise communicate whatever he will on any subject."
Article II, Section 4, of the Constitution of the State of Illinois provides: "Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, when published with good motives and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense."
Across the United States, a common thread between the states has been the indispensable freedom of speech, and even where that freedom faces any limits whatever, there it is met only by an appetite for truth.
The essentiality of the freedom of speech was even powerfully reiterated in a twentieth-century Supreme Court case.
The Supreme Court and the State of California affirmed the freedom of speech in Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980), where the court held that "A state can prohibit the private owner of a shopping center from using state trespass law to exclude peaceful expressive activity in the open areas of the shopping center."
The California Constitution even specifies, "A law may not restrain or abridge liberty of speech or press."
President Kennedy even spoke of the First Amendment in his 1961 address, where he exalted the freedom of speech as that which is protected "not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply give the public what it wants, but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion."
Allow me to echo Kennedy's final consideration: the freedom of speech is important even where it may sometimes "anger public opinion."
Were it intended for purposes of agreeable, trivial or humorous applications, the freedom of speech certainly wouldn't require the backing of law to protect it.
The First Amendment to the Constitution protects this freedom because of the predictable response to unpopular speech: a reduction of freedom, any limit against speech serves to prevent meaningful discourse and the kind of speech that serves to challenge government and, incidentally, to promote liberty.
Remember, the Constitution of the United States was written expressly to limit the central government and empower the several states and individual citizens of the Union, as the Founders understood that government exists as the single greatest threat against freedom.
With that in mind, we cannot rely upon government to correctly decide on matters pertaining to freedom, as government's record on the subject, wherever it appears or rules on the matter, proves nothing about the nature of free speech; instead, its decisions today and into the future represent the nature of politics and populism. Ultimately, words can no doubt be compelling, but they are not the singular threat.
Instead, people the world over are threatened by their limited apprehensions of, and reactions to, those words, which seem to inspire a predictable yet broadly-misunderstood emotional response frequently misattributed to speech over interpretation.
As abolitionist Wendell Philips proclaimed, "He who stifles free discussion, secretly doubts whether what he professes to believe is really true."
The Lie of the "Living Wage"
Party Politics: Buying Votes, Whatever the Cost
Quicken Loans: The ISMs of Corporatism
Spielberg's Mythology of "Lincoln"
How Immigration Defeated America
Democracy and Freedom: Friend or Foe?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Always by Kindle Alexander: Scavenger Hunt, Rafflecopter, Interview, & More!
Are you excited? I am! Kindle Alexander is here today to talk about her latest, hot-off-the-presses release Always. This is a HUGE book tour that you don't want to miss! There's also an awesome Scavenger Hunt and some pretty cool prize baskets up for grabs! You have to check it out!
Hello Kindle! Welcome to my blog and thank you for answering my nosy, discerning, questions! First, please tell us a little about yourself and the kinds of stories you like to write. Would you say there is an underlying theme behind your stories?
First off I'd like to thank you for letting us be here with you today. Kindle Alexander is a writing team; actually we are best friends, live in the same town and met through our children's sports activities.
Well, there is absolutely no underlying theme …unless you call hot guy on guy action with deep seeded, soul igniting love a theme.
We live in the suburbs of Dallas not too far from where we grew up. I'm sure you've all seen the TV show Dallas and caught a few episodes of the TV reality show Big Rich Texas – well our lives are exactly like that ….ten gallon hats, big hair, cowboy boots and the home of the thirty thousand dollar millionaires. Nah, not really, we live in a quiet little town outside of Dallas.
We started writing about five years ago, so we started writing much, much later in life…. the passion we feel is about our boys and their stories, not about the writing.
We were just too dumb to know we needed courage, and should have been intimidated.
We got our start in fan fiction. It's a long and complicated answer so let's just say it's surprising to be here. And we wouldn't want it any other way. If you would have told us we would be writing in the M/M genre 5 years ago we would have laughed at you. We didn't even know it existed. But once we found it we were completely hooked. And now it's the only thing that exists in our world.
Little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll – lol! Nah, depends on the day and my mood. Today I'm a country mouse. Saturday, I might be a city girl.
Absolutely nothing! If you write a school text book or a manual you should probably know what you're writing about. Hahahaha! Just joking. I know a lot of those people who write text books don't know what they are talking about either!
We talk about it and talk about it and then outline it and if the characters want something changed along the way…we change it.
We have two and all our stories start off as these two boys, and then evolve.
The ability to time travel. That way I could go back and fix everything I screwed up.
Writing keeps me sane so wherever that falls then that's the answer.
Completely comfortable in all forms of social media.
I cannot talk my husband into kissing the neighbor man no matter how hard I try.
I love it! My writing partner hates it!
I find it very interesting. My writing partner HATES it with a passion!
We try not to read the negative reviews. You can't make people like your book if they don't. Everyone has different tastes and sometimes we aren't their cup of tea.
My writing partner says editing has a way of beating the characters out of you.
We have three maybe four books we would like to put out in the next year. And out personal goals are to stay around that long.
Note: The Rafflecopter and Scavenger Hunt are two different ways to win prizes! Double the fun!
Note: Not every blog in the tour will have a hidden photo–but at least one blog each day of the tour will have a hidden picture for you to identify–so make sure you check out the other blog posts each day!
I loved the interview with Kindle and all the great questions. I am a huge fan of Kindles and by asking these questions I learned a little more about her.
I can't help but notice your email address–I'm totally besotted with Frozen at the moment! What's your favorite Disney film?
First, I raised four kids. I swore off animation years ago, but I want to see Frozen. That looks really good. Sarah! THANK YOU for the love and Anna Rock you post a really great message. THANK YOU! Can you call me every morning to wake me up with that message? I think it would start my day off perfectly!
Always happy to have you here, Kindle! And you really should see Frozen! I've been belting out "Let It Go" in the forest while walking the dog, in the shower, in the empty riding arena… it is such an empowering song! Love too that the ending was unexpected, to say the least!
Sarah Madison recently posted..Always by Kindle Alexander: Scavenger Hunt, Rafflecopter, Interview, & More!
Thank you Anna Rock! Love that name!
Kindle Alexander recently posted..Comment on Double Full – A Nice Guys Novel (Book 1) by Toyin E.
I appreciated getting to know Kindle better. The interview is quite enlightening. I really want to read 'Always.' It sounds right up my alley, just like your books Sarah. 😉 Thanks to both of you.
Aw, that's sweet of you to say, Lena! What a compliment!
To be in the same sentence as a Sarah Madison book is remarkable. Thank you Lena! If you read Always, let me know what you think!
To be in the same sentence as a Sarah Madison book is remarkable.


By ProBlogger SEO Expert Jim Stewart of StewArt Media.
Search Engine Optimisation. Just reading that phrase can make some bloggers break into cold sweats. You know how to blog, and you know you have to incorporate SEO in your pages somehow to be successful, but the technical aspects of SEO are daunting, at best.
This is the first part of a three-part series on the What, How and Why of SEO and how it relates to your blog. Use these pieces to learn the cornerstones of search engine optimisation and you'll be better able to use SEO to improve your blog.
Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is a way of crafting your blog that focuses on growing your search engine results organically. In other words, it's a method of writing and building web pages that allows them to rise in the Google rankings, instead of attracting traffic through paid ads. It's not a way to cheat or game the system. It's the best way to create your pages to deliver a great user experience, both to your readers and to search engines.
Writing great content with relevant information gives your users what they want. Creating clear information that Google can understand gives it the same thing. The more concise information Google can find on your page, the more it will reward you with higher rankings.
Google's search algorithm is secret and constantly in a state of flux, but we can figure out elements of it by seeing what has worked for other sites similar to your own. In general, search engines want to refer searchers to sites that are the most relevant to their search requests. It can be determined in many ways, all of which warrant your attention.
Content: Is the information on all your pages relevant to the search keywords? What about the titles and image descriptions?
Performance: Does your site load quickly? Are your images optimised? Do your links all work correctly?
Authority: Do other respected sites consider your blog good enough to link to?
User Experience: Is the site easy to navigate? Are there dead links? How long does the average user stay on your page?
All of these factors combine into what Google and other search engines consider a good blog, one worthy of a high ranking in their search engine pages. The higher your site ranks on this list of positive factors, the closer your site will get to that coveted number one position.
Too often, people try to game the system, piling on more and more SEO-friendly details in an effort to get a higher search engine ranking. The result is often worse than if they do nothing at all. Google's search algorithm is very sophisticated; it can't be lured by cheap tricks. Well, not in the long run, anyway.
Buying links: Having good, solid links to relevant sites will always boost your rankings, but you can't buy that kind of respect. Stay away from sellers offering to raise your rank by selling you dozens of links. More likely than not, they're links to sites that have nothing to do with your niche, which is a black mark in Google's view.
Keyword stuffing: Using a keyword naturally in a blog post is one of the key ways for you to rank that post in Google. The key is to do it delicately. Always use the phrase without forcing it into the sentence, and don't over-use the phrase in any post. As a good rule of thumb, if you read the post and the phrase is easily noticed among all the other writing, you're using it too much.
Overall bad user experience: Approach your blog page with a fresh eye occasionally. Do you have ads lining both sides of your page? Do they compete with the blog post for space? Is it tough for readers to find anything? Check your bounce rate. If 80 percent or more of people who click on your blog leave within 5 seconds, there's something wrong that needs to be rectified.
Think of SEO as the recipe for the best way to create your blog pages. It tells you the ingredients to add to the mix and the techniques to use when preparing them. After that, it's up to you to create your own dish for readers and search engines to experience. The closer you follow the recipe, the better your results will be.
Jim Stewart, CEO of StewArt Media, is a recognised digital marketing expert. Jim is ProBlogger's SEO expert and will share his vast SEO knowledge to equip you with the systems and skills to optimise and monetise your blog using tried and tested techniques. What Jim doesn't know about SEO and blogging isn't worth knowing.
The post SEO for Bloggers: A Basic Explanation appeared first on ProBlogger.


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Q: Why does my WPF GroupBox looks so weird? I have no style set anywhere in my application!

UPDATE:

A: This behavior appears to be the default, at least under Windows 7, according to this thread.
It looks like the GroupBox border actually gets an additional white border both inside and outside: just try increasing the BorderThickness, and you'll see what I mean.
Also, compare to another control - a Label, for instance - and notice that when you define a border around that, even a rounded border, there's no white 'shadow'.
As far as I can tell, the only way around this (if you need one) is to define a ControlTemplate for the GroupBox yourself. The link posted above contains a good example: notice the answer that sets the BorderBrush on those surrounding Borders to Transparent.
The canonical example for that custom template can be found in the GroupBox MSDN documentation.
(On an unrelated note, that BorderGapMaskConverter in the example is interesting - that's how the GroupBox knows to render the part of the border beneath the header as transparent... Neat. :))


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This Week In 1989: October 15, 1989
Labels: 1989, ARIA charts
Originally posted as 25 Years Ago This Week in 2014. Updated in 2019.
One minute, you're barely scraping into the top 40; the next, you're winging your way towards your first top 10 hit. Yep, just like that, fortunes can change on the ARIA chart - and this week in 1989, a male artist who was having a massive year in the States debuted with the song that'd help him cross over in Australia.
It was a good week for Bobby Brown on both sides of the ARIA chart
At the other end of the top 50, Richard Marx vacated the top spot for Cher to finally hit number 1 after decades of trying (the closest she'd previously come was on Sonny & Cher's 1965 number 2 hit, "Sing C'est La Vie"). But Jive Bunny was closing in fast - for how long could "If I Could Turn Back Time" hold off "Swing The Mood"?
ARIA Top 50 Singles Chart - week ending October 15, 1989
Off The Chart
Number 82 "Lovesong" by The Cure
Peak: number 82
Like "Catch" and "Just Like Heaven" two years earlier, this follow-up to "Lullaby" inexplicably missed the top 50. It did give the British band their biggest hit in America, reaching number 2.
Number 50 "Every Little Step" by Bobby Brown
Peak: number 8
"My Prerogative" had reached a disappointing number 40 back in May and next single "Don't Be Cruel" (which had actually been released first in the US) hadn't even managed to crack the top 50, so you would've been forgiven for thinking from this dismal entry position that Bobby Brown was destined for another flop. Thankfully, that assumption would've been wrong, since "Every Little Step" not only out-performed "My Prerogative" but climbed all the way up to the ARIA top 10.
Already a major star in the US, Bobby - who gave Collette a run for her money in the lyrca stakes in this clip - was the king of new jack swing, a genre that hadn't really taken off in Australia. Although, I'd suggest that "Every Little Step" succeeded because it was as much a pop song as an R&B track. Compared to most of the other US hits written and produced by LA Reid & Babyface for the likes of Karyn White, Pebbles and even Sheena Easton, "Every Little Step" was positively joyful - and I think that had something to do with its success here, while those other moodier songs faltered.
With one major hit under his belt, Bobby, his wedge haircut and running man dance were soon unstoppable - and the door was now open for more American R&B music to be given a chance in Australia.
Number 46 "No Souvenirs" by Melissa Etheridge
Unlike Bobby Brown, Melissa Etheridge had been embraced by Australia some time before America sat up and took notice. So it was no surprise when her second album, Brave And Crazy, stormed into the ARIA top 20 and this week jumped up to number 11 - but hit singles weren't as forthcoming this time around. In fact, "No Souvenirs" would be the only chart hit from the album - and it's a song I don't really recall, but I did make an effort not to have to listen to Melissa Etheridge if I could help it.
Number 30 "Touch The Fire" by Icehouse
This really should have been a bigger deal - the first new Icehouse single since Iva Davies and co stopped trawling Man Of Colours for singles in July 1988. While number 13 is nothing to sniff at, it must have been a bit of a disappointment after the level of success Icehouse had become used to. After all, Man Of Colours was one of those albums nearly every Australian household owned, so you'd think "Touch The Fire" might've made more of an impact - especially given it's a pretty good song.
Be that as it may, the single did at least do its job of promoting the forthcoming Icehouse career retrospective album, Great Southern Land, which was released at the end of October 1989 and featured two new tracks, of which "Touch The Fire" was one. While "Touch The Fire" didn't become Icehouse's seventh top 10 hit, Great Southern Land, at least, reached number 3 on the albums chart.
Albums Chart
Speaking of the albums chart, with only three new entries on the singles top 50, what better time to flip the chart over and look at what was happening on the other side?
ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart - week ending October 15, 1989
Big debuts
As well as Bobby Brown's year-old Don't Be Cruel album finally cracking the top 50, it was a big week for new entries on the ARIA chart, with brand new albums by Tracy Chapman, Tina Turner, Boom Crash Opera and Janet Jackson all debuting. Despite charting lowest out of those four titles this week 25 years ago, Janet's Rhythm Nation 1814 would end up being the biggest hit, spending four weeks at number 1 - although not until February 1991. Tracy Chapman's second album, Crossroads, would peak at number 4 while These Here Are Crazy Times by Boom Crash Opera reached number 10. As for Foreign Affair by Tina Turner - its number 15 debut was also its highest position.
U2 invasion
It doesn't take a genius to work out why there was a sudden influx of old U2 albums in and just outside the top 50 this week in 1989. After all, the Irish band kicked off their Lovetown Tour in Australia in late September. Meanwhile, latest album Rattle And Hum climbed back up the top 10 and to its highest position since December 1988.
Compilations battle
What would a look at the albums chart be without checking out what compilations were selling by the truckload? This week in 1989, 1989 The Right Stuff had the upper hand thanks to the number 1 singles from New Kids On The Block and Simply Red it contained. The top-selling compilation also featured big hits by Indecent Obsession, Grayson Hugh, Texas, Sinitta and Transvision Vamp.
The third volume of Hits Of '89 had no chart-toppers, but did include big singles like "All I Want Is You" and "Dressed For Success". It deserved to lose the chart race, however, thanks to a dire second side which featured non-hits from Nick Barker & The Reptiles and Easterhouse.
As the decade drew to a close, it was a good time for a Smash Hits branded compilation covering the best the '80s had to offer - and Smash Hits Of The '80s did a decent job of fulfilling its remit, even if a couple of the inclusions (Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls, The Black Sorrows) seemed out of place. They were hardly decade-defining moments.
Skipping over the '70s compilation, poor Video Hits 2 really did suffer on the tracklisting front. Only five of the 16 songs included were top 10 hits, while acts like Then Jericho, Roachford and Deacon Blue somehow made the cut (or were forced upon the compilers by record labels).
Listen to this week's new entries on my Spotify playlist of all the top 50 hits from 1989:
Next week: two of the year's biggest new acts debut with new songs - and score three simultaneous top 40 hits in the process. Meanwhile, a rock band that started life in the early '70s lands its first top 40 hit. Before that, I'll conclude my look back at my favourite 100 songs from 2009.
Back to: Oct 8, 1989 <<<<<<<<<<<<< GO >>>>>>>>>>>>> Forward to: Oct 22, 1989
ohnoitisnathan 15 October 2014 at 11:58
From Countdown Revolution, Prince's 'Partyman' was at #52 this week, which must mean Cyndi was at #51. I'm surprised to see 'My First Night Without You' back as a Breaker, 3 weeks after cracking the top 50. I wish ARIA didn't re-list singles that had already entered the top 50 as Breakers; maybe we could have found out another Breaker from this week that didn't hit the top 50 in its place.
I also noted down Richard Marx's 'Angelia' being at #93 on 17/10/1989, from Countdown Revolution. Though I'm not sure if that meant it was from this week's chart or the next one, given that it would have been a Tuesday.
I liked 'Every Little Step' and remember there being a 'no rap' b-side, which I assume must have had about a minute of just the instrumental track playing in place of the rap, given how long the rap section lasts. 'Don't Be Cruel' (single) would eventually crack the top 50 as part of his megamix hit, as would Paula Abdul's local flop singles.
Fox FM in Melbourne were plugging 'No Souvenirs' for several weeks before it entered the chart. I remember being surprised that she had a new song out from a new album already, so quickly after the first.
I didn't really like the 'rock' sound of the Icehouse track, and thought the verses and bridge were much stronger than the chorus. It was probably a career mistake for Icehouse to follow-up 'Man of Colours' with a best-of collection (that curiously featured none of the 'Man of Colours' singles) 2 years later, rather than a new album.
Donna Summer finally cracked the top 40 this week after what must surely be one of the longest climbs within the top 50.
I'm surprised Tina Turner's album didn't peak higher.
I got (and probably asked for) '1989 The Right Stuff' for my birthday that year, though by that point most of the songs on it were pretty 'old'. I also got a Nintendo, after playing and getting hooked on a family friend's kid's Super Mario Bros. game.
It was quite funny when the 'hits' compilations had to resort to using non-hits. I wondered why none of Kylie's actual hits from 'Enjoy Yourself' were featured on one of these compilations until 'Tears On My Pillow'. Jason's 'Too Many Broken Hearts' and 'Sealed With a Kiss' also didn't appear on the main compilations, curiously. Madonna's 'Cherish' was on one of them, but none of the other 'Like a Prayer' singles were. Maybe some of the 'big' acts wouldn't allow their singles to appear on these things until the album had already had a fair run in the chart?
I remember thinking 'who would buy that?' about the Smash Hits decade collection. I guess as a 10-11 year old, I couldn't yet see why anyone would want to buy 'old' hits... and if they did, surely it wouldn't have been a collection affiliated with a teen magazine. The 2-cassette version came in a special double-size case (like 2 cassettes placed alongside, rather than stacked on top of, each other) from memory.
I bought 'Video Hits 1' the year before, which featured a mixture of chart successes and flops; but more evenly balanced than '2', which I passed over. I thought the purpose of including some flops/newer artists may have been to help them gain exposure; a bit like a promotional release. Both (and subsequent) Video Hits releases should have really been available on VHS though; that would have been more interesting, and fitting the show's name.
My friend bought Bobby Brown's 'Don't Be Cruel' around December 1989 and he played it all summer and I got to know all the tracks and every word without owning the album myself. I always thought about buying it on CD in the 90's but never got around to it and well by mid 90's Bobby Brown was no more.
Wow, I now remember seeing the 'Video Hits 2' compilation in the record store after seeing the image here. I always thought about buying it just to hear some new songs that weren't hits, but the others were old hits, so I passed on it.
Nathan, as you mentioned, it is funny how some of the big artists don't get their songs on the compilations until the shelf life of their album is over. Madonna did it a few times. Her 5th and final single from 'True Blue' - 'La Isla Bonita' ended up on '87 Hots Up' (should have been '87 Right On Track' cause it was a bit old by now) and 'Dress You Up' on 'Just Hits 85/86 and as you mentioned 'Cherish' being on 'Let's Do It - Summer 1990' (even though it was only the 3rd single and still 3 more to come, which didn't do much).
My local FM station played 'No Souvenirs' quite a bit when it was released. I like it, it was different, not your typical hit and very lyrical.
This Week In 1989: October 8, 1989


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1: Introduction
2: Republican
3: Liberal (Moderation, Tyranny)
4: What's Unique About America's Story and Historic Promise: Opportunity (Inequality, Poverty, Class Issues)
5: Generational Robbery
6: Political Reform
7: Tax Reform
8: Legal Reform
9: Immigration Reform
10: Criminal Justice
11: Race
12: Infrastructure
13: Industrial Policy
14: Health Policy
15: Foreign Policy
16: Educational Policy
17: Conclusions- Do We Really Want to Be the Americans On Whose Watch The American Dream Ends?
Bibliography with Commentary
Acemoglu, Daron and James Robinson. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty.
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism.
Bartlett, Bruce. The Benefit and The Burden: Tax Reform – Why We Need It and What It Will Take.
Barnes, James A., et al. The Almanac of American Politics 2016.
Brands, H.W. Reagan: The Life.
Fawcett, Edmund. Liberalism: The Life of an Idea.
Forman, James. Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. and "Racial Critiques of Mass Incarceration: Beyond the New Jim Crow."
Haass, Richard A. Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America's House in Order.
Rokyo, Mike. Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago.
Saunders, Doug. Arrival City: How the Largest Migration in History is Reshaping Our World.
Steinberg, Jonathan. Bismarck: A Life.
Wilson, William Julius. More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City.
Follow Along via Email
View TheLoneLiberalRepublican's profile on Facebook
View LoneLiberalRep's profile on Twitter
Scroll through our blog for contemporary thought pieces, or click on individual draft chapters of a book-in-progress for a Liberal Republican history and take on specific topics.
A Pioneer Woman in the U.S. Senate
Congress opened and Alabama plays Clemson for the national championship
We Are All in This Together
"I am rooting hard for you."
Green Shoots of Moderation
Wilson, William Julius. More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009.
William Julius Wilson has been, for many decades, one of America's most preeminent scholars regarding the causes of the continued impoverishment of inner city African Americans. In his book, More than Just Race, he calls for "an honest and open discussion of race in America, including why poverty and unequal opportunity so stubbornly persist in the lives of so many African Americans."
Professor Wilson describes how the factors that are responsible for this stubborn persistence generally fall into two categories: structural causes and cultural ones. Professor Wilson states that "The relative importance of cultural or structural explanations in accounting for behaviors and social outcomes is often debatable — though I will argue…that, in terms of major effects on immediate group social outcomes and racial stratification, structure trumps culture. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that to apply these explanations totally separately, without any attempt to show how they interact, is indeed a mistake."
Professor Wilson concludes that "[T]he available evidence suggests that structural factors are more important than cultural variables in accounting for concentrated poverty in the inner city and the economic and social position of poor black males...[T]he structural evidence for the fragmentation of poor black families is not as compelling [emphasis mine]…Nonetheless the research…provides little reason to conclude that cultural variables have played a greater role than structural factors in black family fragmentation."
1. Structural Racism
At the risk of oversimplifying a matter that is complicated and on which people have very different views, one may argue that structural racism is discrimination that doesn't necessarily emanate from the prejudice or ill will of the person or persons discriminating, but rather can emanate from the existing structure of society. So, for example, a homeowner living in a neighborhood where no people of African heritage live might be upset if his next door neighbor plans to sell his or her home to an African-American, even if the selling homeowner is without prejudice. Especially if the homeowner is working class and has been in his or her home for decades, the value of the home is likely to represent the bulk of his or her retirement savings. While it is morally wrong to object to the sale, it is not economically irrational. Regardless, this is structural racism, contributing to the continuation of the historically-restricted access to opportunities that have disadvantaged African-Americans throughout American history. It is also an example of how structural racism impedes the very progress that most Americans hope that most other Americans–of all colors, religions and political views– aspire to; that is, home ownership, safe neighborhoods and good schools for their children.
Professor Wilson notes that structural factors come in many varieties. There are those that reflect explicit racial bias, like discrimination and segregation that intentionally differentiate by race, such as things as simple–but infuriating–as black customers in grocery store checkout lines being asked for ID when they pay after the white customers in front of them are not. And there are structural factors that do not reflect explicit racial bias, but disproportionately harm African Americans, as is the case with America's comparatively lean social safety net. Consider, for example, African Americans' overrepresentation in low-wage industries– itself a function of past discrimination [1] that limited African American's access to high-wage jobs, and that educated African Americans in segregated schools with materially fewer resources. [2]
2. Cultural Factors
Professor Wilson asks, "How much of the framing of racial beliefs at the national level is based on the actual observed cultural traits among the inner-city poor and how much of it is the result of biased media reports and racial stereotypes?" One of the consequences of our media having become so sensationalized is the huge number of stories that perpetuate racial stereotypes. As I began to write this blog entry, an email from one of my favorite online news sources for Chicago news arrived in my inbox. The lead story was about a year-old murder where the victim was beaten to death by a gang over a pita pocket. Last year there were almost eight hundred murders in Chicago. Why was this particular item news now? It's hard to imagine a reason, other than its titilation value. Such stories certainly perpetuate racial stereotypes while serving no real purpose.
In discussing cultural factors, Professor Wilson observes how even rational behavior in the communities in which many inner-city African-American youth grow up can impede obtaining a job outside of such communities. He states, "In Elijah Anderson's research, some groups in the inner city put a high value on 'street smarts,' the behaviors and actions that keep them safe in areas of high crime…In this environment, it is wise to avoid eye contact with strangers and keep to yourself…Although such an approach is logical and smart in an unsafe neighborhood, the same behavior can be interpreted as anti-social in another setting [and]may, in some cases, prevent individuals from performing well on job interviews"…As Anderson puts it, "the code of the street is actually a cultural adaptation to a profound lack of faith in the police and the judicial system. [3] Such cultural codes hinder integration into broader society and contribute to the perpetuation of poverty."
Professor Wilson also describes how history has precluded serious, objective discussion of these issues. "[T]he Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson maintains that there is "a deep-seated dogma that has prevailed in social science and policy circles since the mid-1960's: the rejection of any explanation that invokes a group's cultural attributes: it's distinctive attitudes, values and tendencies, and the resulting behavior of its members–and the relentless preference for relying on structural factors like low incomes, joblessness, poor schools and bad housing…He colorfully contends that it is 'utterly bogus' to argue, as do many academics, that cultural explanations necessarily blame the victim for poor social outcomes…" Professor Wilson states, "I agree with Patterson that cultural explanations should be part of any attempt to fully account for such behavior and outcomes. And I think it is equally important to acknowledge that recognizing the important role of cultural influences in creating different racial group outcomes does not require us to ignore or play down the role of structural factors. The relative importance of cultural or structural explanations in accounting for behaviors and social outcomes is often debatable–though I will argue later that…structure trumps culture."
Professor Wilson also argues that structure and culture interact. He argues, for example, that only when black fathers have a realistic opportunity to adequately care for their children financially will they be able to envision a more family-centered life for themselves and their children. [4]
3. What Can We Do?
Professor Wilson states, "The idea that the federal government 'has a special obligation to help improve the living standards of blacks because they 'have been discriminated against for so long' was supported by only one in five whites in 2001, and has never exceeded support by more than one in four since 1975. Significantly, the lack of white support for this idea is not related to background factors such as level of education and age."
That said, Wilson states that 68 percent of all whites favored spending more money on the schools in black neighborhoods, especially for early education programs. And 70 percent favored granting special college scholarships to black children who maintain good grades. He concludes, "Accordingly, programs that enable blacks to take advantage of opportunities are less likely to be 'perceived as challenging the values of individualism and the work ethic.' The implications for political framing are obvious–opportunity-enhancing affirmative action programs are supported because they reinforce the belief that the allocation of jobs and economic rewards should be based on individual effort, training and talent."
Professor Wilson also explains how important an impact strong economic growth can have on reducing racial poverty. He states that "[T]here is little evidence that cultural forces have the power that changes in the economy have. We need only consider the impact of the economic boom on the reduction of concentrated racial poverty in the 1990's…to illustrate this point…From 1996 to 2000, real wage growth–that is, wages adjusted for inflation–was quite impressive, especially for low-wage workers. The ranks of the long-term jobless–defined in the US economy as those in the labor market who have been out of work for more than six months–plummeted from almost 2 million in 1993 to just 637,000 in 2000. The unemployment rate of high school dropouts declined from almost 12 percent in 1992 to less than 7 percent in 2000. The unemployment rate among blacks declined to 7.3 percent, the lowest ever recorded since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began compiling comparable statistics in 1972. More than any other group, low-skilled workers depend on a strong economy, particularly a sustained tight labor market…in a tight labor market the status of all workers–including disadvantaged minorities–improves." [Emphasis mine] How this fact should affect the appropriate policy mix to alleviating concentrated racial poverty is something on which progressives and conservatives disagree. But its importance should be kept in mind in crafting policy.
Notwithstanding the importance of economic growth in alleviating concentrated racial poverty, Professor Wilson also states, "In my previous writings I called for the framing of issues designed to appeal to broad segments of the population. Key to this framing, I argued, would be an emphasis on policies that would directly benefit all groups, not just people of color. My thinking was that, given American views about poverty and race, a color-blind agenda would be the most realistic way to generate broad political support necessary to enact the required legislation. I no longer hold to this view…The issues of race and poverty should be framed in such a way that not only is a sense of fairness and justice to combat inequality generated, but also people are made aware that our country would be better off if these problems were seriously addressed and eradicated." [5]
* * *
Imagine structural racism and cultural forces each as circles. There is a lot of disagreement regarding the size of each of these circles relative to each other. But regardless of their relative sizes, most people would agree that there are some places where these circles overlap. Instead of arguing about the relative sizes of the circles (or while we do), we can and should get to work on where they overlap. [6] Concentrated racial poverty is an awful problem in America–morally, politically economically and socially.
1 African-Americans were explicitly excluded from most New Deal programs as the price FDR paid to get various New Deal legislation past Southern Democratic legislators. In their book Grand New Party, Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, two conservative thinkers, discuss this. "All these [New Deal] achievements, though, were built on a foundation of exclusion…[T]he New Deal's programs tended to exclude African-Americans from benefits…new labor laws excluded agricultural and domestic laborers, both heavily black occupations at the time, from their regulations; so too, until the 1950's, did Social Security…Over time it became clear that the New Dealers had made a deal with the devil to pass sweeping social legislation, refusing to confront segregation head-on in the interests of keeping the South solidly in the Democratic column." Racism doesn't get any more structural than this. See also Ira Katznelson, Fear Itself–The New Deal and the Origins of Our Times, one of whose central themes is that blacks were often excluded from New Deal programs as the price for obtaining Southern politicians' support.
2 Regarding materially fewer resources in schools for poor inner-city minorities, I worked with someone in the 1980's whose daughter went to a Chicago public school in a poor neighborhood and the textbooks did not even arrive until January. The school year started in September.
3 See the discussion of Jill Leovy's book Ghettoside and her interview with Bill Keller elsewhere in the Bibliography With Commentary section [here]
4 In Rethinking Social Policy, Christopher Jencks discusses the extent to which antisocial and self-destructive behavior has increased in inner city neighborhoods as a byproduct of economic and demographic changes over which people living in such communities had almost no control, including the white middle class becoming far more tolerant of "deviant" behavior (including, I would argue, glamorizing it, thanks to mainstream American media).
5 Professor Wilson describes so many of the same facts that Christopher Jencks [here], Isabel Sawhill [here] and other social scientists have described for decades, and how they involve more than just race, especially family structure. Professor Wilson states, "In one study, whereas only slightly more than 5 percent of married-couple families lived in poverty in 2004, nearly 30 percent of female-headed families were poor. According to another study, "children in single-female-headed households account for more than 60% of all children in families living in poverty…The poverty rate of white children in households headed by single females was almost 5 times greater than the poverty rate for those in married-couple families; for black children the rate was 4.5 times greater…black children in single-female-headed families account for more than 85% of all poor black children." So Professor Wilson's advocacy for remedies that are not "colorblind" reflect a lifetime of working in this space, and deserve to be afforded great respect.
6 Also, regardless of the relative size of the circles, changing structural racism requires major action by society at large while changing cultural norms is much more within the control of the black community.


text:
Fernando Sorrentino
Rewarding Superstitions
Translated by Clark M. Zlotchew
I live off the superstitions of others. I don't earn much and the work is pretty hard.
My first job was in a seltzer plant. The boss believed, who can say why, that one of the thousands of siphon bottles (yes, but which one?) harbored the atomic bomb. He also believed that the presence of a human being was enough to prevent that fearful energy from being released. There were several of us employees, one for each truck. My task consisted of remaining seated on the irregular surface of the siphon bottles during the six hours daily required in the distribution of the seltzer. An arduous task: the truck jolted; the seat was uncomfortable, painful; the route was boring; the truckers, a common lot; every once in a while a siphon bottle would explode (not the one with the atomic bomb) and I would sustain slight injuries. Finally, tired of it, I quit. The boss hastened to replace me with another man who, with his mere presence, would prevent the explosion of the atomic bomb.
Immediately, I learned that a spinster lady in Belgrano had a pair of turtles and that she believed, who can say why, that one of them (yes, but which one?) was the Devil in the form of a turtle. Since the lady, who always wore black and said her rosary, couldn't watch them continually, she hired me to do so at night. "As every one knows," she explained to me, "one of these two turtles is the Devil. When you see one of them begin to sprout a pair of dragon wings, don't fail to inform me, because that's the one, without a doubt, who is the Devil. Then we'll make a bonfire and burn it alive so as to make all evil disappear from the face of the earth." I stayed awake during the first nights, keeping an eye on the turtles: what stupid, clumsy animals. Later I felt my zeal to be unjustified and, just as soon as the spinster lady went to bed, I would wrap my legs in a blanket and, curled up in a folding chair, I would sleep away the entire night. So I never managed to discover which of the two turtles was the Devil. Later I told the lady that I was going to give up that job because it seemed it was bad for my health to stay awake all night.
Besides, I had just learned that there was an old mansion in San Isidro overlooking a deep ravine and, in the mansion, a statuette depicting a sweet French girl from the end of the nineteenth century. The owners, a very old, grayhaired couple, believed, who can say why, that that girl was sad and pining for love and that if she didn't get a beau she would die shortly. They provided me with a salary and I became the statuette's boyfriend. I began to call on her. The old folks left us to ourselves, though I suspect they spied on us. The girl receives me in the gloomy parlor, we sit on a worn sofa, I bring her flowers, bon bons or books, I write poems and letters to her, she languidly plays the piano, she glances at me tenderly, I call her "my Love," I furtively kiss her, at times I go beyond what is permitted by the decorum and innocence of a late nineteenthcentury girl. Giselle loves me too, she lowers her eyes, sighs slightly and says to me: "When will we be married?" "Soon," I answer. "I'm saving up." Yes, but I keep putting off the date since I can't save more than a little towards our wedding; as I've already said, you don't earn very much living off other people's superstitions.
[From En defensa propia, Buenos Aires, Editorial de Belgrano, 1982.]
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Essence And Attribute
by Fernando Sorrentino
A man notices a small wart on his left hand.
- Genre: Humor
A Psychological Crusade
A renegade experimental psycologist explains how to inflict his methods on the general public.
There's a Man in the Habit of Hitting Me on the Head with an Umbrella
Not your everyday problem.


It is vital to ensure that you are in a good state of health. All the different parts of the body may call for medical care. The teeth will be one of these parts. You can have a different problem will relate to the teeth. You will have a condition such as the misalignment of teeth and jaw problems. When you have such problems, it will be vital to see an orthodontist. You will have different orthodontists that you can visit. It is important to get the best of them all. You will need to know the factors that will define the best orthodontist. From the content of this website, you will be guided when going for the best orthodontist.
It will be vital to think of the qualification of the orthodontists when you require to go for the best. It is vital to ensure that you go for an orthodontist who will have the best knowledge in this field. They will be needed to have at least a degree from a known medical school in the country as it will mean they have the best knowledge. The orthodontist will need to have the certificates required to show that they are qualified.
The certification will be an important factor to consider when you need the best orthodontist. An orthodontist will be one of the medical practitioners. You will need to make sure that you consider their certification in medicine. It will be vital to think of the certification as it will assure you that they are qualified. It is hence necessary to get the orthodontists who will have the required certification. They should thus have obtained the certification from the relevant authorities in the country.
You should consider the options the orthodontist will have when you need the best. You will need different options for you to select for the best. It will thus be good to consider the orthodontist who will give you different options. The brace they will need you to choose will be the Invisalign, the clear braces and the metal braces among others.
It will be good to make sure that you evaluate for the amount of cash that you will be needed to pay when you need the best orthodontist. The best orthodontist will ask for a price that will be affordable for their patients. When you require to find the one who is fair on the cost, you will need to check from their websites. You can also consider the different means of payment that they will accept. The orthodontist should accept credit cards and insurance to settle the bills.


Zazzeri is glad to inform you of its participation to Arkeda 2018, the convention exhibit on Architecture, Building and Design&Arredo which will be held in Naples from 30th November to 2nd December 2018.
This event, this will be its sixth edition, benefits from the sponsorship of the Italian Association of Architects, of Engineers, of the Associations of Designers and of Universities. Moreover, as a guarantee of the high profile of this event, several refresher courses are scheduled, with the issuance of training certificates, as well as a series of debates and workshops for professionals.
Zazzeri will be there with its stand where four of the most significant collections of the company will be the protagonists: the brand new Z316, the line which catches the essential soul of steel and which presents it through a full product range for bathroom, kitchen and outdoor; POP, a mix between tradition and innovation with materials which are different for their origins and uses and which combine in a harmonious and balanced way; Qquadro, a collection with a rigorous and minimalist, elegant line with very performing "Eco" features; DaDa, an icon of modern elegance which is second to none. Furthermore, there will be the new and charming finishing suitable for all the collections of brass and steel.
It is said that the innovation gene belongs to few. Since 1929 Zazzeri has had a vision of design according to which taps and fittings can impose the living codes whenever it stands out from the crowd with impeccable style and technique.
Arkeda 2018 will be the opportunity to share this challenge!


text:
Q: After imputation, how to round to nearest level of a factor I have imputed missing values in the following data frame in column q1. q1 is a factor with the levels 0,20,40,60,80,100. I need to round the column q1 to nearest level of factors, number 49 and 91 need to be rounded. Does anyone have a solution for this problem?, thanks in advance!
id <- rep(c(300,450), each=6)
> visit <- rep(1:6,2)
> trt <- rep(c(0,"A",0,"B",0,"C"),2)
> q1 <- c(0,100,0,89,0, 60,0,85,0,40,0, 20)
> df <- data.frame(id,visit,trt,q1)
> df
    id visit trt  q1
1  300     1   0   0
2  300     2   A 100
3  300     3   0   0
4  300     4   B  49
5  300     5   0   0
6  300     6   C  60
7  450     1   0   0
8  450     2   A  91
9  450     3   0   0
10 450     4   B  40
11 450     5   0   0
12 450     6   C  20
>

A: Maybe you could use plyr's round_any function here which would round to nearest multiple of 20 in this case.
plyr::round_any(df$q1, 20)
#[1]   0 100   0  80   0  60   0  80   0  40   0  20


Regardless of what you're celebrating, the holiday season is upon us and with it comes plenty of germs! Between colds, flu bugs, and other illnesses, it's essential to practice healthy habits to keep your batteries charged and your children healthy during the holidays.
At Nightingale Home Nursing we want to enjoy your holiday season with joy, laughter, and cheer and not a sick child or loved one. Our DHA registered home nurses have put together their top tips to help you and your children avoid common illnesses during the holidays.
Hand washing is one of the most beneficial habits we can teach our children. Think of hand washing as a simple "do-it-yourself" vaccine that's a win for everyone except the germs. Hand-washing is especially important after using the restrooms and before meals. If you're planning on travelling this holiday season, keep hand sanitizer within reach to "wash" those germs away when you are on-the-go.
Keeping your hands clean is one of the most critical steps you can take to avoid spreading germs to others and getting sick. When you wash your hands be sure to use soap and clean, hot running water. Rub them together for at least 20 seconds to ensure you are killing all of the bacteria you may have come in contact with. If you have trouble keeping your children at the sink for this amount of time, sing their favourite song while you wash. It makes the process fun and helps the time pass.
Be sure to teach your children to sneeze or cough into their elbow or a tissue instead of their little hands. The earlier you instil this behaviour, the better. This simple act helps to prevent germs from spreading to every surface they touch.
Encourage your children to keep their hands out of their mouth. Everything they touch is a potential breeding ground for bacteria and illness. Subways, trains, cabs, aeroplanes, and other forms of public transportation are full of infectious germs. Keeping their hands out of their mouths will help your children stay healthy during the holiday season. If this is something your child struggles with, re-emphasise the importance of frequent and proper hand washing.
Another way to keep your children healthy during the holiday season is and to boost their immune system is to ensure they are getting enough rest. Children should sleep uninterrupted, anywhere from 8-14 hours per night, depending on their age. For example, a 1-year-old toddler requires more sleep than a 13-year-old.
A good night's sleep allows the body time to rest and protects the body from injury and illness. Additionally, well-rested children wake alert and ready to handle the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.
When we say eat from the rainbow, we do not mean holiday cookies, candies and other colourful sugary treats. This means teaching your children to eat a well-balanced diet comprised of eating healthy fruits and vegetables in assorted colours. Think blue blueberries, green spinach, yellow and red peppers, orange carrots and any other colourful fruit or vegetable that's high in healthy vitamins.
Sure, you're all going to eat sugary sweets during the holiday season, but if you eat them in moderation, your body will thank you for it. When you fuel your body with healthy foods, it's better equipped to fight off infection and illness, such as the cold and flu.
A well-balanced diet is high in lean proteins, whole grains, fibre, healthy fats, and plenty of vegetables and fruits. However, we know that it's hard to eat the right things during the busy holiday season. Consider enlisting the help of a home nurse to help customise a nutritional plan to help you through the holidays.
Nightingale DHA registered home nurses can help you create nutrition plans that will keep you and your children healthy through the holiday season and beyond. Additionally, your home nurse can also work with your childcare providers and nannies to ensure that they are promoting a healthy lifestyle for your children.
Stick to the above tips to keep your children and family healthy during the holiday season. If you need a few more tips, contact the professionals at Nightingale to speak with one of our registered nurses. Stay healthy and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!


Father, John Rodgers, died Dec. 26, two weeks after suffering a heart attack while watching his son play his final game for Eastern Washington. Initially signed with Washington State as a tight end. Transferred from Washington State in the spring of 2013 after starting all 12 games on the offensive line for the Cougars in 2012. Played defensive end, tight end, punter and kicker in high school.
Former high school tight end who has natural movement for the tackle position. Gains good ground with first two steps and can handle himself against edge speed. Keeps hands in ready position and has some snap behind his punch. Uses good posture in protection and has enough anchor. Shows desired movement to get to back-side cutoff. Takes pretty good angles to his block. Athletic enough to redirect back inside and smother inside moves when his setup is balanced. Effective quick-setter who can go get his man. Able to work combo blocks and hook defender to the outside in run game.
Plays from a two-point stance and will have to acclimate to having a hand on the ground. Has some knee bend, but hips are a little stiff, causing occasional anchor and balance issues. Needs to improve consistency of timed punch to maximize length. Plays with athletic traits over technique right now. Legs get heavy and slow after contact. Doesn't get into defenders with desired leverage as run blocker and turns into a pusher rather than driver. Weight distribution can be uneven with occasional over-set in pass pro and mirror issues.
Athletic tackle who shows effective movement skills on interior to make tough angle blocks. Has the feet to compete at swing tackle in the NFL. Rodgers has very good moments in the first half of many snaps, but will see his play decline in the second half of the snap. Improved technique and balance will be the key to his chances as an NFL prospect.


Stephen Nomura Schible's wonderful feature debut is a revelatory exploration of Ryuichi Sakamoto, his work, environmentalism, and the incredible album async. This lovely and graceful exploration offers a rare glimpse into the artistic process of the renowned musician.
A lithe romantic triangle, Philippe Garrel only needs the barest means—plus 35mm black & white film—to tell a lovely story of two young women (one played by his daughter) trying to find what love means to them.
It is our great pleasure to exclusively present this 60s-set Nordic charmer and knock-out debut. Triumphant winner of Un Certain Regard in Cannes, shot on gorgeous monochrome 16mm and based on the true story of the most romantic of boxers, one thing's for sure: it'll make you happier.
The centerpiece of Park Chan-wook's thematic triptych, The Vengeance trilogy, is also one of the most popular international hits of the 2000s: an extreme hyper-surreal revenge saga that spasms with energy and has blown minds the world over. Winner of the Cannes Grand Prix. In HD.


text:
namespace GsmGadgetry.Micro.Hardware.Gsm
{
    public enum DataHeaderState
    {
        None = 0,
        IP = 1
    }
}


text:
Pre 3 now shipping in the UK; US coming 'soon'
By Chris Ziegler Aug 16, 2011, 8:04pm EDT
Share All sharing options for: Pre 3 now shipping in the UK; US coming 'soon'
The HP Pre 3 may have just had the quietest, most nondescript launch announcement in history: a four line note sent to PreCentral as an update to an existing post. That's right, the Pre 3 is apparently officially available in the UK. Palm's own Eurostore has it for £299.00 ($492.03) unlocked, in fact.
We've been tracking signs for the past week or so after several UK retailers told customers they'd be shipping soon. Sure enough, as PreCentral reports, units have begun shipping to customers today from the likes of Clove.co.uk and Box.co.uk. Faced with the fact that its flagship smartphone for 2011 -- announced more than six months ago -- was just now shipping in a single region, HP released this statement:
HP is excited to begin its regional rollout of Pre3, the only phone today that offers users a slide-out keyboard coupled with a large touchscreen and the fastest speed (1.4GHz processor – the fastest on the market). We expect to share additional information for U.S. customers soon.
Hopefully HP will deign to put out a press release with more details for both continental Europe and the US sometime soon. Even if they don't, it looks like the company is going to just barely make its promised summer release window for the Pre 3.
Source: Palm Eurostore, PreCentral


We start our Franschhoek Village Cycle Tour from the historic Dutch Reformed churchyard on Main Road. Amongst the first Europeans to settle in the valley were French Huguenots who, after being persecuted for their Protestant faith, left France and, in 1688, were given land by the Dutch East India Company in what was then known as Olifantshoek (Elephant's Corner). The newcomers named their farms La Motte, Bourgogne, Champagne and La Provence and other names reminiscent of their homeland and began to cultivate wines. By the early 18th century the valley was referred to as 'de France Hoek' (the French Corner) and by 1805 Franschhoek was the official name.
This fascinating tour highlights significant Huguenot farms and how building styles changed over the years. We learn how to identify the early Cape Dutch buildings with their distinctive, ornate rounded gables, symmetrical windows and H-shaped design, and those that had been 'Victorianised' with the addition of verandahs and sash windows. We cycle through the village, stop at the Huguenot Memorial and then weave our way to vineyards which are steeped in tradition but also innovating and introducing new ideas to Viniculture and wine pairings. We stop at one of the favourite wine farms for a memorable tasting which include wine farms such as La Bri and Holden Manz which have some breathtaking views.
Inquire about our half-day or full-day ($115 and $230 respectively, per person) options. Special 'out-of-season' rates available upon request.